Broken Masks
by helpthehorriblelovethelonely
Summary: Harry Potter, twin brother of James Potter, is the perfect slytherin. He doesnt show his true emotions, he does well in class, he never causes trouble, and he doesnt get in anybodies way. But around James, he's a different Harry. What happens when one of Harrys roommates walk in and meets this new Harry Potter? Harry learns he doesnt have to wear so many masks, after all.


Harry Potter, a 6th year Slytherin, was walking through the halls of Hogwarts. It was a pretty day in October, the leaves were starting to change colors and the air was cool and crisp, but not too cold that one needed a jacket yet.

Harry was stopped by a hand on his shoulder, the Slytherin blinked lazily before turning around to see who had wanted his attention. It was in fact, his twin brother, James Potter. The Gryffindor was grinning at him, and he had that look in his eyes that said he was up to no good.

"James," Harry gives a twitch of his lips that is almost a smile, and James just grinned even more.

"Har'!" he starts excitedly, almost bouncing on the balls of his feet. "she said yes!"

"James what are you- wait, Evans said yes to going to Hogsmeade with you?" his mouth fell open in shock, the most unslytherin thing he would probably ever do.

James just nodded excitedly "I need your help! You're the more fashion forward one considering, well, you know," James laughed, referencing the fact his twin was gay.

Harry rolled his eyes "Keep it down, will you? I'm already a Potter in Slytherin, I don't need any of the other Slytherins getting into a tizzy because I'm also queer," he hissed, but his eyes were alight at the thought of the challenge. "I'll help you, but considering that you only have like, 2 nice shirts to your name, come to my room tomorrow morning and I'll help get you dressed, alright?"

James grinned even more and hugged Harry, who let out a squeak but hugged his brother back with a laugh. "sounds great, I'll see you then!" James yelled over his shoulder as he ran away to go rejoin his friends over by the lake.

Harry shook his head and gave a faint smile, continuing to walk around the grounds.

-HHLL HHLL HHLL-

The next morning Harry was up bright and early, it was a Saturday morning but most of the Slytherins had gone to breakfast already, including his two other dorm mates. He put on his glasses and went to do his morning ritual before dressing in a pair of Slytherin sweatpants and a white t-shirt. Despite the simplicity of it, he looked hot.

Harry hummed and made his way outside the common room to wait for his brother, about 10 minutes later James came down the hall, Harry could tell that his brother was 1) trying not to sprint, 2) anxious about going on his date, and 3) almost scared shitless at being in the dungeons. Harry had to fight the laugh that wanted to escape, but the laugh won, it came tumbling out of him, sounding soft and bubbly.

"James," he said in between his laughs "I just realized that somehow in the last 6 years, you have yet to visit me in the dungeons. I always go up to the tower, what's wrong with that picture?" he's quieted by James pretending to swoon onto him,

"oh, brother mine! A fair creature such as I does not belong in a dungeon!" he said in a dramatic voice. Harry just pushed him away,

"c'mon you prat," he chuckled, leading him into the Slytherin common rooms. James looked around, a soft woah escaping him. The Slytherin common rooms were nice, the walls were filled floor to ceiling with bookshelves, and they had several very comfortable looking chairs. Harry chuckled as James stared at the window that showed the underside of the black lake, a mermaid swam past the window and James jumped practically into his twin's arms.

Harry rolled his eyes "James," he said, chuckling "come on, we have a date to dress you for," he pushed James towards the staircases. James, thinking it was like the Gryffindor dorms, stepped onto the stairs on the right, he got two stairs up before it turned into a slide and propelled him down to the common rooms. Harry looked down at his twin as he lay on the floor, "Having fun down there?" he smirked.

James shoved himself up and tried to glare, but for some reason it didn't look right on his face, even if Harry could pull it off effortlessly. Harry just laughed and started walking up the staircase on the left, leading him to his dorm. Harry pointed to one of the beds "sit," he commanded, and James sat.

"Geez Har,' a bit demanding, are we?" James smirked, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back on the mass of pillows Harry kept on his bed.

"James, I am helping you out of the goodness of my heart, and if you finish that sentence the way I know you want to, I will throw you out looking homeless," Harry warned, pointing his finger at his brother. Suddenly, the door to the dorm opened, and in walked Severus Snape. He walked over to his own bed not noticing the other Potter at first, but when he sat down on his bed to read a book, he jumped back a foot in the air.

"Gah!" he called as he jumped back "Jesus Potter, what is Potter doing here?!" Severus looked over at Harry with both a look of fury and exasperation.

"Come on Snape," James began "I told you I was sorry, and I meant it. I haven't fucked with you yet this year, have I? even though Sirius has been adamant about doing something to you?" James asked, looking over at him with his arms crossed. Snape just glared at him more.

"James has a date, needs help with clothes because even his pretty face won't be enough if his clothes are ratty," Harry answers easily, throwing his closet doors open to reveal so many clothes.

"ooooh" James said as he got up from the bed and went over to the wardrobe, he ran his fingers along the clothes as he separated some chunks to see what his options were.

Harry smacked his hand "you don't get to decide, you asked for my help, remember? So, you're going to sit on that bed and look pretty while I do what I want with you," Harry said firmly, a glare plastered on his face.

James sat obediently "tsk tsk tsk somebody is being quite the power bot-" James began, but he was cut off as a shoe was thrown at his head. He ducked just in time and when he looked up, he saw a furiously blushing Harry with a look of murder on his face. James' eyes flicked back to Severus and suddenly he remembered that they weren't at home right now, they were at Hogwarts, in the Slytherin dorms, and if he let slip anything personal about Harry in front of the Slytherins, that his brother would kill him. He swallowed and mumbled "Sorry, Har'" before moving to sit pretty on the bed.

"that's what I thought," Harry grumbled, going back to his closet, he didn't notice the black eyes that followed him.

-HHLL HHLL HHLL-

Severus walked up the stairs towards his dorm, he heard people talking but he paid it no mind, probably just Lucius tutoring one of the younger years. He walked in and noticed Harry Potter was standing at his wardrobe, looking through it, he didn't know why though- what he had on was hot enough. Severus shook his head to clear his thoughts, they weren't needed right now. He grabbed a book out of his bag and sat on his bed to begin reading, but when he saw what he thought was another Harry sitting on the bed, he jumped back and let out a rather undignified noise.

"Jesus Potter, what is Potter doing here?!" Severus asked with a bit of panic in his voice from the fright.

"Come on, Snape," James began "I told you I was sorry, and I meant it. I haven't fucked with you yet this year, have I? even though Sirius has been adamant about doing something to you?" he heard the Gryffindor Potter say, he squinted his eyes and glared at him. Be that as it may, he still didn't trust the boy, and to find a Gryffindor in the Slytherin dormitory was a little suspicious.

"James has a date, needs help with clothes because even his pretty face won't be enough if his clothes are ratty," Harry answered his question easily, and Severus found himself snorting at the derisive comment.

Severus heard James let out an "oooh" before walking over to the wardrobe, Severus leaned back in his bed and watched the brothers with interest. Harry potter was a very, very private person. Severus knew almost nothing about the other boy, even if he had shared a dorm with him for the last almost 5 years. Harry kept to himself and did everything he could to not be noticed, he was one of the top students in their class and always hung around himself unless he was with his brother. If Severus was honest, he didn't think the boy had any personality of his own at all.

Severus watched as Harry smacked his brother's hand "you don't get to decide, you asked for my help, remember? So, you're going to sit on that bed and look pretty while I do what I want with you," Harry said firmly, a glare plastered on his face. Severus had to try not to choke at the response, who knew potter had such a… domineering side.

James sat obediently "tsk tsk tsk, somebody is being quite the power bot-" James began, but Severus watched as Harry picked up a shoe from the bottom of his closet and chucked it at his brothers head so fast that Severus didn't know how he had managed to move so quickly. Severus raised an eyebrow when he saw James flick his eyes towards him, and then mutter an apology. Severus hummed quietly, it seems he walked in at just the right time, this was going to be interesting.

-HHLL HHLL HHLL-

Harry went back to the wardrobe and put one hand on his hip and the other on his chin, humming as he thought. He pulled out a few different pairs of pants and a few different dress shirts, all in a different array of colors and shades. He jumped when he felt James behind him again, he turned and shot a glare at his twin, "what did I say about-" but he was cut off as James reached around him and pulled something out of his closet.

In James' hand was a Gryffindor uniform, and not just a regular Gryffindor uniform, a _girls_ Gryffindor uniform. James let out a wolf whistle as he held the folded outfit, "damn Har' didn't know these were the things you were into these days," he teased.

Harry sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. James was somehow going to spill all of his secrets today; he just knew it.

"they're your girlfriends, why don't you bring them back for me, huh?" he found himself saying in a mocking tone.

Both James and Severus gaped at him, "why the hell do you have Lily's clothes?" James asked with his mouth agape. Harry couldn't help but laugh that bubbling laugh again at his brothers face.

Severus had watched James take out the uniform and tease his brother about 'what he was into' and it made Severus curious about where this was going to go. When he heard Harry's quip though, Severus couldn't help but stare and agree with the other Potter, why the hell did he have Lily's clothes. When he heard the boy laugh, though, goosebumps ran up his arms.

"We were outside by the lake studying when it had started to rain," Harry began to speak after his laughter went down, he turned to look back at the wardrobe. "we ran back here but we were both soaked to the bone, so I offered her some of my clothes for her to wear back to the tower, and I washed and folded hers for her," he said it as if that was a normal thing to do, or like they did it all the time. "speaking of, can you tell her I need my jeans back? I mean don't get me wrong she's a goddess in them, but I can't have just sweatpants for my casual clothes,"

"Hey, it's not her fault that you just so happen to wear the same size woman's jeans as she does," james retorted. He ducked in time for Harry to turn and swing at him, he tutted his tongue "Har' I've lived with you our whole lives your surprise attacks aren't going to get me," to which Harry just glared at him and mumbled something about stupid Gryffindor's and their stupid comments.

Severus watched the interaction and felt a little amazed at how well the brothers reacted to each other. He was also surprised to find that the Slytherin Potter had quite a temper, at least around James.

Harry took a deep breath and grabbed a few more things before turning around, Severus got up, "mind if I take a look?" he asked, a blank mask on his face. Harry looked up at him in surprise, and Severus found he liked seeing some emotion on the boy's face, but his mask was back up in only seconds.

"sure, Snape, if you have any suggestions I'm all ears, anything to help this train wreck," he said, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb at his twin. An indignant "hey!" came from behind Harry and Severus couldn't help but chuckle.

Harry shook his head, "James, take your clothes off," he ordered, grabbing his wand from his bedside table where he had set it down the night before.

"why Harry Potter! At least take me to dinner first!" James responded, and Harry blinked at him,

"wow, that was actually a good one, good job." He praised the joke, "but for real, take your clothes off," he said, leaning against one of the posts on his bed and twirling his wand leisurely in his hand.

Severus nearly choked on the air he was breathing when he heard James' remark, these two both seemed to be quite different people when they were around each other. He figured James was also like this around his band of Gryffindor's, but he wondered if Harry had ever been able to be himself around anybody else except his brother and maybe parents. He turned back with a few additional shirts and added them to Harry's pile. When he looked up at the other Slytherin, Severus was hard pressed not to stare, Harry looked quite hot, his hair tussled and his white shirt clinging to his abdomen and his sweat pants that hung in all the right places and- Severus cut his own thoughts off, Potter wasn't gay, and he needed to stop staring at and admiring him before he caught feelings.

James glanced over at Severus with a look of hesitation, he then looked back at Harry like he was nervous or embarrassed.

"James, if you do not take your clothes off, _I_ will take your clothes off, and that would be quite the awkward letter to mom and dad, no?" Harry joked, but he smirked when James started undressing. He stopped when he was down in his underwear, that would be enough.

Harry stepped back to examine what he was working with. Even though they were twins, there were some differences between them. For instance, James had blue eyes while harry had green, James' skin was a few shades darker than Harry's, their muscle was accumulated in different places due to James playing chaser and Harry playing seeker.

Harry tutted his tongue and then waved his wand, purple shirt and navy blue trousers were spelled onto him. Harry looked at it thoughtfully for a moment before shaking his head and switching to a different combination of colors, this time a dark green pant and a silver shirt. "that one looks better on me, I dare say," Harry mumbled before spelling it away again.

Severus sat down on his own bed and leaned back to watch the show. Even though James was a menace, he certainly was an attractive menace. Severus watched as Harry went through a few more combinations, deciding all of them were a no go.

"what about the silver shirt and the navy blue pants?" Severus commented from behind them, Harry flicked his wand and the combination was up. Harry hummed,

"we'll definitely have to put that one in the keep pile, thanks Sev- Snape," Harry cursed himself as he tripped up and almost called his housemate by his first name. He wasn't on first name bases with anybody except for James and _maybe_ Remus Lupin.

Severus raised his eyebrows at the slip-up, but he didn't comment on it.

"If this shirt looks good on you, you can keep it," Harry hummed as he put up the next combination, a black pair of pants and a blood red shirt. Harry hummed in appreciation,

"Wait, why?" James asked a little surprised, "You love your clothes, and you're just going to give this up?"

Harry chuckled as he put the black and red outfit in the keep pile. "It doesn't look right on me, does weird things with the color of my eyes," he said. "although you are right, and if you ever think about taking my clothes without my permission, I will hang you from the ceiling by your ankle." His tone was calm, but he was definitely serious.

The next thing Harry spelled on for James was more for fun, but he was curious as to what it would look like. Harry waved his wand and suddenly James was in a black pair of skinny jeans and a band t-shirt. Harry gave him an approving look "if this wasn't your first date with Evans, I would send you out in this," he hummed. He turned when he heard choking coming from behind them.

Severus watched Harry put the punk outfit on his brother and couldn't help but choke on his own saliva. He had never seen him so casual, and Severus didn't think Harry was into the whole punk thing but judging by the fact he had it in his closet, he'd have to say he was. He blushed as he thought about Harry wearing it, and somehow that seemed even more attractive.

Harry turned towards him at the choke and Severus had to fight the blush off of his cheeks before he embarrassed himself. Harry smirked, his eyes alight at being able to play around with the clothes, he always did enjoy fashion. "If you think _that_ is good, you should see the outfit with the fishnets," Harry joked before turning around.

"Harry, you wouldn't," James said, a look of apprehension on his face. Harry gave him an almost evil grin,

"Might even pull out the makeup too, just to see where that takes us," James blanched at the words, looking over at Snape as if for help "Snape, listen, I know you hate me but I need your help, I am currently at the whim of a madman," he said, a mix between being dramatic and serious.

Severus couldn't help but laugh, everything that had been going on for the last hour was so confusing, it was flipping his world around, at least for the moment.

Harry hears Severus laugh and he can't help the small smile that crosses his face, he liked the lightness it held, like it was floating around the room. He jumps when he's pushed in the shoulder by James, who is giving him a knowing look with a raised eyebrow. Harry winces at him and just shrugs in answer.

Severus finishes laughing "Don't worry potter, I'll be your knight in shining armor," he chuckled.

"but I thought you were the prince in that story," Harry hummed, poking light at the 'half-blood prince' that Severus had written in his potions text book.

Severus looked at him with furrowed brows "how do you know that, Potter?" he questioned.

Harry shrugged his shoulders "I pay attention," was his only answer before going back to James. After a few more outfit rotations, Harry finally settles on the black pants with red shirt, as well as a pair of brown dress shoes. He takes a step back from his brother and a glint forms in his eyes, James sees this and shakes his head, wagging his finger at harry,

"oh, no, no, no! I know that look, and I don't like it!" James said, a little nervous. When Harry got that glint in his eye, there was no telling what he was about to do.

Harry put on his best puppy dog face "oh but James," he pleaded "If I just put a bit of eyeliner on you, your eyes will be so much brighter," he pleads.

James shakes his head "Harry, I trust you, but I'm not sure makeup is a good-" he stops when he sees Harry get down on his knees with his hands folded, looking like a lost poppy.

"Oh, pretty please, James?" Harry was a good actor, and he knew it, so he played it up. "pretty please? You know I don't get to play around much when I'm here,"

James glared down at him for a moment, "fine!" he consented, and Harry was back on his feet with a grin.

"great!" he said and went over to his wardrobe, he got down on the floor and looked around the bottom of it, when he didn't find what he was looking for, he frowned. James sighed in relief, apparently Harry didn't have his make up with him.

Severus watched as Harry begged his brother to let him put makeup on him, how did Potter know so much about this stuff? He didn't know, but he definitely wanted to learn.

Harry let out a frustrated growl, and Severus had to immediately start thinking of things like naked grandmas and professor Dumbledore's toe hairs to keep him from getting turned on by it.

Harry stood back up from his closet, a determined look in his eye, he walked out of the dorm and James and Severus quickly followed.

Harry walked halfway down the stairs and put his hands on the bannister in between the boy's stairs and the girls stairs. He knew one if not both of the Black sisters had to have what he was looking for. Without thinking about who was watching or who could notice, he jumped the banister over to the girls' side.

Severus watched Harry jump the banister and his mouth fell open, was he crazy? He was just going to fall on his ass when the stairs changed! Except, Severus noticed, the stairs never changed.

Harry sprinted up the stairs and there was a soft knock on one of the doors, you could hear muffled voices and a few minutes later Harry came down with a large makeup bag in his hand. He hopped back over the banister effortlessly.

"You thought I would give up so easily?" Harry smirked as he passed his brother up the stairs, who was giving him an incredulous look.

"Harry!" he called as they walked back into the dorm, "You just jumped that banister like a chain link fence and the stairs let you up how-!" James started to ask, Harry just raised an eyebrow at him. "oh, yeah, forget about that sometimes," he finished lamely, sitting on Harry's bed.

Harry chuckled, but he froze when he heard Severus ask a question,

"Although Potter seems to know what's going on, I surely do not," Severus said, going and sitting on the ottoman that was in the center of the room and that Harry previously had had clothes on. "How did you do that? Do you have it charmed or something? The Hogwarts wards are superior to that any of us could do, I don't see how you could just bypass the stairs!" he sounded both annoyed and curious, he wanted to learn what this man was up to.

"you'd be surprised to find, Snape," James began, glancing over at him as Harry crawled into the bed as well and sat in front of him in order to work on the makeup, "that the answer is much simpler than you think it is,"

"face this way, asshole," Harry commanded as he found what he was looking for inside of the makeup bag.

James did as he was told and Harry put black eyeliner along his top lash line, he then used a sponge and smudged the eyeliner on the top of his eyelid so it had more of a faded grunge look. It was very subtle, and if you didn't know he had makeup on you might not be able to tell.

Harry also added a bit of clear mascara to his top lashes, nothing that you could see, but it made them stand out. He pulled away from his brother and grinned, looking him up and down. "Well dear brother, I may be a little biased here, but I say you look damn good."

James rolled his eyes and summoned a mirror, he stood in front of it and checked himself out and he nodded in approval. "damn Har' I underestimated your skill at this," he whistled at himself.

Severus watched the two interact, he had somehow learned more about his roommate in the last hour and a half than he had in the last 5 years combined.

Harry pushed his brother out the door "time to go get your girl, Mr. Potter!" he chuckled, walking him down to the common room and to the entrance.

"let me know what she thinks of the outfit," he smiled. James gave him a two finger salute and marched out the door, ready to impress.

Harry smiled and went back up to the girl's dorm to give Narcissa her makeup back, he hopped the bannister to the guys stairs and walked back up to his room. He waved his hand and all the clothes that were all over the place went back to where they rightfully belonged.

Harry's masks were put back in place almost immediately after his brother left, he sat in his bed and pulled out his homework to start working on it.

"Uhm, Potter?" Severus found himself asking, Harry didn't even look up from his work as he monotonously responded,

"yes Snape?" he glanced up at his roommate and Severus felt taken aback, all of a sudden, a whole different person was across the room from him. This was the Harry Potter that Snape knew, but he wanted to know more about the one hidden behind the masks. Although when he saw the blank look in Harry's eyes, he decided against saying anything.

"uh, never mind, it's nothing," he said before closing the curtains around his bed.

-HHLL HHLL HHLL-

It was Monday morning at breakfast, Harry walked into the great hall and James ran up to him, hugging him. Harry awkwardly hugged back, he didn't like being around so many people, and he especially didn't like showing his true self around so many people. James knew this, so the almost cold response didn't bother him at all.

"she loved it," he grinned when he pulled back from the hug, Harry's lips twitched upwards, as close to a smile as James was going to get at the moment.

"As I knew she would," he can't help the pride that swells in his chest at the praise, though.

"she wants to know if you'll go shopping with her sometime," James chuckles softly, he sees a light flare up in Harry's eyes and he knew his brother was already excited for the trip.

"tell her to owl me when and where, and I will make sure to be there," he said cordially, like he was planning a murder or something. James nodded with a grin; he gave Harry another quick hug before running back to the Gryffindor table. Harry shook his head a little and went over to his own house table, he sat down at the edge of it away from everybody else, like he always did.

Harry pulled himself a piece of toast and started to put jam on it when he felt someone come sit beside him, he looked up to see Snape sit across from him, and Lucius Malfoy sit next to him. Harry looked between the two of them, not letting the confusion show on his face, "Snape, Malfoy," he greeted politely.

Before Harry had come in, Lucius and Severus were having a very heated conversation about their roommate. Severus had told Lucius what happened the other day, and Lucius didn't seem to believe him, Severus told him it was true, that the boy was more than just an emotionless husk with no personality, so instead of arguing anymore Lucius went up to the kid to test his theory. Their year mate greeted them politely as they sat down.

"Hey, Potter," Lucius began, turning towards the brunette. Harry looked up at him, Lucius had short almost white blonde hair, steel blue eyes, and a smile that made almost every witch in the school swoon over.

"Yes, Malfoy?" Harry asked, wondering where this was going. He had barely ever spoken to the guy, deciding long ago that so long as he didn't make enemies in Slytherin, it didn't matter if he had actual friends.

"I need some help, and I saw what you did to the other Potter on Saturday," Lucius lied easily, having not actually seen James but taking Severus' story. "and I was wondering if you could help me out. I want to ask out Narcissa Black later today," he nodded his head down the table, "and I was wondering if you could fix me up a bit?"

Harry knew this was a trap, he knew that Lucius was just trying to prove something, he knew that as soon as he showed any semblance of emotion they would run off mocking him like they did when they were younger about how Potters don't belong in Slytherin and Harry should just be kicked out.

But he felt the excitement bubble up inside him at the new challenge, and he couldn't just say no.

Lucius saw the fire that burst into the green eyes at the mention of helping his appearance, and he had to force himself to not frown at the idea that maybe Severus had been right. He glanced over at his friend who was just giving him an 'I told you so,' type look.

Harry pulled his wand out of the holster on his arm and he pointed it at Lucius. Lucius stared down the length of the wand and wondered if maybe Potter was going to hex him, but he didn't feel any pain after the boy moved his wand, so he didn't think he had. Suddenly, long hair fell down around his face, and he jumped a little at it. he also noticed that the clothes under his robes changed, although he didn't know how the other Slytherin managed that one.

Harry waved his wand, first towards Lucius' head and then again in his general direction. The man had a good face, Harry couldn't deny, but there was something about it that was off. He made the blonde hair grow out down to his waist, and he hummed as he realized that that was the issue. He flicked his wrist and a ribbon appeared and tied his hair away from his face with a silver ribbon. He then did another spell to change the clothes under his robes to a dark purple silk button up, a pair of black pants, and a pair of black shoes with silver stitching. He looked over his work, all the while keeping his face blank, and he nodded. "That should do you, Malfoy," he answered before going back to his toast.

Lucius unbuttoned his robes and summed a mirror, he gaped at the image in front of him. He looked good, damn good. He buttoned up his robes and sent the mirror away, looking over at Severus who was smirking at him, and then back at Potter. Harry was nibbling at his toast, not really eating much as he stared off into space, he looked weirdly… empty? Lucius wasn't sure that was the right word. "Thanks, Potter," he said, giving him a small smile to see if it would get the other to respond in any sort of way.

Harry looked at Lucius when he was addressed, he noticed the smile but didn't acknowledge it. he nodded his head at the thanks, and then went back to his food, or rather back to staring off into space.

It wasn't that Harry wanted to be this cold to his housemates, it just kind of happened whenever they were near. He was comfortable around James, but that was because they were brothers, and whenever his twin was near, he felt a bit better about being alive in the first place. Even around the other Gryffindor's he was cold and cut off, he has never given anybody a chance because the few times he had he had just been disappointed. Harry knew the loneliness and isolation wasn't healthy for him, he knew it brought him into a very dark place half the time, and he knew he would feel better if he just opened up, but knowing what you should do is a lot easier than doing what you should do.

Severus frowned as he noticed Harry's look, 'I pay attention' was repeated in his head, something Harry had said to him while he was making over James. He wondered how he had never paid attention to Harry before, at least not outside his looks. He wondered why Harry stayed so hidden all the time, and whether or not having tried to be his friend earlier would have changed that at all.

Harry abruptly put the food down and grabbed his things, leaving the great hall early to go do who knows what. Severus looked at Lucius,

"See! I told you! There's a person in there somewhere but he won't show it!" Severus hissed across the table at his friend. Lucius nodded,

"I wonder why that is? Do you think he is depressed?" Lucius asked, finding himself playing with the hair tied at the base of his skull.

"It wouldn't surprise me," Severus said, "but I doubt that that is the reason for him becoming so distant in the first place."

"Can you think of anything that would have made him this way? I don't really remember him ever not being like this," he hummed, feeling sad for the boy.

Severus thought back to when they were younger, and he flinched as a memory crossed his mind.

_*flashback*_

_Harry potter went up to the sorting hat excitedly, everybody in the hall watched as he sat down, the hat fell over his eyes. It looked like the two of them were arguing, but at the end of a few minutes the hat bellowed out "SLYTHERIN"._

_The entire great hall was silent as Harry walked over to the Slytherin table. Harry frowned as he sat down, he knew from watching the others get sorted that usually people clapped, but they hadn't for him. he sat off towards the end of the table, keeping his head down. _

_Harry was walking down the hallway their first year, it was a week or so into the school year. A group of some older Slytherins came up to him with smirks. Harry smiled, someone from his house wanted to talk to him! But the older boys' smirks just grew as they knocked Harry's books out of his arms and pushed him to the ground. Harry fell down with tears in his eyes, the older boys just laughed at him "Stupid Potter thinks he belongs in Slytherin, Potters don't belong in our house- they should just kick you out. Pathetic", the older kid then literally kicked him while he was down and walked away. _

_Harry was sitting in the common room doing his homework, minding his own business. "Hey Potter!" someone snapped at him, and Harry looked up, trying to keep a mask on his face. He was trying so hard to be a good Slytherin, to be someone his peers wouldn't hate, but it didn't seem to be working. "I hear that you got house points taken away for blowing up a cauldron in class." Harry looked at them confused, he had not, in fact lost any house points. He remembered James telling him though, that he had blown up his cauldron the other day because he wasn't paying attention, and he had gotten detention for it. At that point, the twins were identical except for their eyes, so it would make sense that they thought it was him. he tried to explain the situation, but they just sneered "get out of here Potter before I find a reason to punch your face in" Harry quickly scurried out of the room. _

_*end flashback*_

Severus cringed "I think I have an idea as to why," he told Lucius, he went about recounting some of the harassment Harry had received when they were first years. It seemed by the end of first year Harry was nothing but a husk of a person, and that's what everybody remembered him as. He had been trying so hard to fit in, so hard to be a good Slytherin, but his classmates only started leaving him alone once he stopped reacting to any form of stimulus.

Lucius winced as Severus spoke, "you think we could fix it somehow?"

Severus sighed, "don't know, Luc'. I don't know."

-HHLL HHLL HHLL-

Harry was out walking the Hogwarts grounds; the sun was starting to set despite it only being 6 o'clock. He liked to come out here, especially in the fall and winter, and just walk the grounds in order to clear his head. It had been a few weeks sense he had helped James with getting ready for his date, and Harry found it very odd that Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy were suddenly interested in talking to him, or even noticing him.

He shook his head a bit, he was careful about what he said or did around the other two, he knew Severus had seen how he had been around James but considering none of the other Slytherins had said anything about it except for Lucius, he assumed he was safe. He figured that so long as he kept his masks up then Severus would think it was all an act for his brother and go back to treating him like he wasn't there. That didn't seem to be happening, though. If anything, him and Lucius seemed to be more inclined to speak to him the more he closed himself off. Harry didn't get it, he really didn't.

Harry sat out on the shoreline of the black lake, he pulled his knees to his chest and hugged himself close. He cast a quick notice me not charm after he heard some talking a few yards away from him, he didn't feel like dealing with anybody, especially not during his walk, that was the only true alone time he ever seemed to get.

Harry looked down at his hands when he felt a stinging pain, he hadn't realized he had been scratching his hand so badly until it had started to turn raw and bleed. Harry winced, it was a nervous tick he'd had sense he was a child, but it got especially worse when he came to Hogwarts. He didn't much like it at Hogwarts, if he was honest. All of the Slytherins hated him because he was a Potter, and the rest of the student body hated him because he was a Slytherin. There was no winning in his situation.

He sighed and looked back out at the water, watching it ripple as leaves fell into it from the trees.

Severus and Lucius had been walking the grounds, talking about harry. They had tried to talk to the boy, tried to get him to open up, but the more they did the more he just seemed to withdraw into himself. They were discussing whether they should go up to the other Potter and ask about his brother, and they had pretty much decided that yes, they would, when they spotted the boy across the green sitting by the lake. They paused however, when the image flickered and suddenly Harry seemed to not be there. They however, having already seen him, knew he was there. After a minute on focusing on seeing Harry, he popped back into existence. They stood and watched him for a while.

Harry was just sitting there, his knees hugged to his chest just staring out at the lake. Lucius and Severus noticed in that moment that he didn't look emotionless or hallow, he looked so sad and so forlorn and so goddamn lonely. They watched as he started scratching at his hand, not even seeming to notice that he did it. They watched as his nails dug deeper and soon, he was scratching himself raw. The boy looked down at his hand and winced, it was apparent that he hadn't noticed he was doing it. Looking closer, Severus saw that there were scars and healing wounds all over his hands from what appeared to be an unconscious habit. Severus looked over at Lucius and saw that his friend had seen the same thing, and he was watching on in horror.

They walked away after that, feeling it an invasion of privacy to see Harry so open without his consent to them seeing it. They hurried away to go find James. They found him, eventually, they had to cast a tracking spell in order to find him, but they had found him. He was walking with his group of hooligans and when James felt their presence he turned around. "Potter," Severus was the one to speak, "might we have a word?"

Severus watched as the mutt Sirius Black turned to them with glee, ready to use whatever nasty charm or hex that was floating around in his mind, but James searched their faces and he must have realized that it was about Harry because he yanked Sirius' wand out of his hand before he could do anything.

"Hey!" Sirius called, grabbing for his wand, James just stared him down,

"you will not do anything to them, if they want to speak with me, they may. Get out of here," he all but growled, throwing sirius' wand down the hall "go fetch," he said before grabbing the two Slytherins by the arms and dragging them away. Who knew the Potters had such a temper?

James lead them to an abandoned classroom and closed the door behind them, his face suddenly filled with worry.

"What's wrong with Harry." he deadpanned, crossing his arms over his chest.

"we wanted to ask you if he was okay," it was Lucius who spoke, his demeanor much more casual then it ever was around anybody but Slytherins, but he assumed to get answers out of James, he would need to be not an asshole.

James narrowed his eyes at them, "what do you mean by that?"

"I was there when Harry dressed you up for your date, no?" Severus chimed in, and when James nodded he continued. "I don't know if you know this, but Harry doesn't exactly have any friends. And up until then, I wasn't even sure the guy was capable of emotion. He's just an empty shell all the time, unless he's with you, but it's not like you guys have much time to see each other. We wanted to know if he was alright, like… mentally speaking?" Severus asked, looking a bit worried.

James eyed them up, as if looking for some sort of trick or deception that they would be harboring, for him to tell all of his brothers' secrets and then run back to the other Slytherins so they could harass him like they did when they first got here.

"to be frank, the answer is no. He is not alright." He paused when the two in front of them looked at each other and then back at him, suddenly their normal stoic masks were gone, and were replaced by worry. "He has been depressed for years now, mom and dad tried to take him to the healers, but whenever he's there he just laughs it off like he's fine, good at those masks you Slytherins seem to wear all the time," he paused and jumped up on an empty table to sit, this could be a long conversation.

They Slytherins joined him, sitting on a table of their own, Severus sat Indian style while Lucius crossed his legs. James raised an eyebrow, these two were acting extremely comfortable around him, and he was confused. "He doesn't have any friends, Hell he's not even on first name basis with anybody except me and _maybe_ Remus, but only sometimes. He's alone, and every time he's tried to make friends its backfired on him. He's been that shell sense first year, but nobody seemed to notice, so long as he stayed out of everybody's way nobody seemed to care." He suddenly snapped his head up to look at them, anger flashing dangerously in his eyes. "why do you care? Huh? What's the schtick here, what game are you playing at? Because I swear to god if either of you make things worse for him, I will maim both of you," his voice was flat, but it held promise.

Severus and Lucius looked over at each other and then back at James, "if we're honest, we thought he was incapable of personality at all. I mean, we've shared a dorm room with him for the last 6 years and we had never even had a proper conversation with the kid outside of school things. I saw how he acted when you were in the room, how excited and genuinely happy he looked, and then as soon as you left, he was back to being emotionless and cold." Severus spoke, looking down at his hands.

"and then he tried to tell me about it, and I didn't believe him," Lucius started, "but Severus insisted, so I did an experiment. I went over and asked if he could help me out, because I was planning on asking Narcissa out later and wanted to look my best,"

James grinned "I was wondering where the long hair came from," Lucius just waved him off and continued to speak,

"at first I thought he was just going to remain emotionless, and he kind of did, but I saw this… this fire in his eyes I had never seen in him before, and it was like he was a different person. He did his work and then went back to his food, as if nothing had happened."

Severus shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose "we thought maybe if we could befriend him, he would open up, but he doesn't want anything to do with anyone, or anything." He finished.

James looked at them for a long moment, "Harry doesn't trust easily. You're probably better off trying to get a brick wall to trust you than Harry. It's not like it isn't you guys' fault, though," he said, and the two in front of him snapped their head up with glares. "not specifically you two, but the Slytherin house. They treated him like garbage, because he was a Potter in Slytherin. They never gave him a chance, they ridiculed and harassed and straight up beat him when he first got here. We were 11, do you know what that does to a kid? Everybody in your house hating you because of your name and everybody else in the school hating you because you're a Slytherin. He became that shell because he had to, in order to survive. To be able to survive being at Hogwarts, period. He hates it here, you know. Can't stand to be here and has panic attacks at the end of each summer. He hates being empty, but that's what he has to do." James finished his rant and hopped off the desk, walking back towards the classroom door, but before he left, he turned to speak to them over his shoulder, "he likes quidditch, art, and fashion. I'd start there," And with that, he was gone.

-HHLL HHLL HHLL-

That night Harry walked into an empty dorm room, and he sighed in relief. Lucius and Severus were being way too sociable for what Harry could handle right now. They had tried to pull him into conversations, but he was always weary, it wouldn't be the first time that Harry thought someone was trying to be his friend only to turn around and humiliate him.

He was back early today, quidditch practice got canceled because of the rain, so he was able to spend some time just to himself. He went to sit down on his bed when he saw something wrapped in brown paper, with a little card that read: For You.

Harry eyed it suspiciously, waving his wand over it to make sure there was nothing dangerous about it. when the scan showed that it was all clear, he sat down and started to unwrap it. inside was a book called "the history of fashion and its impact", Harry's eyes widened as he opened it and flipped through the book, a smile coming to his face as he did. He would have to thank James later, after all, it's not like anybody else would get him a gift.

He crawled up into his bed and started from the first page. He stayed like that for who knows how long, but the next thing he knew Severus and Lucius were coming back from astronomy, so it must have been getting late. He winced as he realized he must have skipped dinner; he used the For You card as a bookmark and placed it on the correct page. He looked at it weirdly for a moment before spelling the cover to look like some ratty old library book.

"For the last time Lucius!" Severus' voice rang from the staircase outside of the rooms. "I do not need you setting me up with any of your _friends_!" Harry snorted as he could practically hear the sneer in the other's voice.

"Come on Sev!" there was a smacking sound and then an "ow!" before Lucius continued "fine, come on, _Severus,_ you know that I know some pretty people," there was a sensual quality to his voice that made Harry feel uneasy, whoever this girl was he had tried to set him up with, Severus didn't like her.

"for the last time! If I am meant for a relationship it will happen when it happens, not when my friend tries setting me up with 30 year old ministry men!" Harry practically choked on the air around him. Men. Severus had specifically said men. Harry shook his head and picked his book back up, he had thought about going to the kitchens to get some of the dinner he missed, but decided it wasn't worth it. he leaned back onto his headboard and continued his reading.

The two walked into the room and they stopped short when they see Harry reading on the bed, wasn't he supposed to be in quidditch practice right now? Either way, they looked over at the book that Harry seemed so heavily engrossed in. On the front of the book was a simple brown cover that looked like it was some sort of textbook, Severus and Lucius looked at each other, then back at Harry and noticed the brown paper on his nightstand and the for you note held in Harry's hand for his bookmark, they smiled and moved to their own beds.

"what do you have there, Potter?" Severus asked as he put his school things away, he watched as Harry looked up quickly and was about to start gushing about what he was reading but he quickly shu his mouth and his masks were back on. "Oh, just some research for the charms essay that's due next week. I wanted to make sure that I knew what I was talking about." He answered in a flat, almost bored tone. maybe a month ago he would have fell for the lie, probably wouldn't have even asked, but this time Severus saw the light in Harry's eyes come on in their direction for just a moment, before he whisked it away again. He narrowed his eyes as he stared at nothing, he was determined to make that light come on fully, even if it killed him.

the next morning Harry had gone up to James to thank him for the book, but James just gave him a weird look, "I didn't get you any book, Harry," the twins eyebrows were furrowed in confusion.

Harry's face fell, "What do you mean it wasn't you?"

"I didn't get you the book, it wasn't me, you're thankin' up the wrong tree here, bud." James shook his head, frowning at the increasing uncertainty in Harry's face "Har', what's going through that head of your?"

"I…" he paused, before he glanced over James' shoulder and suddenly his mask was back in place, "Nothing, James, everything's fine"

James looked over his shoulder and saw Lucius and Severus nearby. Lucius was holding hands with Narcissa black, and they made a cute couple, James thought. He turned back to Harry now that he knew the reason for his brother's sudden coldness. He wanted to cheer him up, Harry seemed to be in a more anxious state than normal, if all the raw spots on his hands and arms were anything to go by. "Hey," he said after a moment "I've got another date with Lily this weekend, mind helping a brother out?" he grinned. His grin only widened when he saw something flash over the green eyes in front of him.

"Same time, same place?" Harry asked, sounding like he was scheduling a business meeting, but James could tell he was excited. With a nod and a quick one armed hug, Harry turned and started walking back up towards the castle. When he had made sure Harry was far enough away, he turned and walked over to the three Slytherins.

"Potter," they all three somehow said in unison, James shuddered a little bit, even he and Harry didn't do that very often.

"Hey, Saturday morning be in your room," he said bluntly, looking at Severus more so than any of the others, no beating around the bush here. "I've recruited Harry's help for another date with Lily. Try talking to him while he's working on a project like me, he'll spill most of his personality without even realizing he's doing it."

"Thanks, Potter," Severus replied softly.

"If Harry needs to borrow my make up again, just tell him to come on up," Narcissa smiled,

Severus looked at her with a raised eyebrow "You aren't suspicious about why he can go up the girls stairs?" he asked, and Lucius gaped,

"He can what?!" the blonde asked incredulously,

Narcissa looked Severus up and down before going back to looking into his eyes "Oh trust me, sweetheart, I know _exactly_ why he can make it up the stairs."

"and you aren't going to tell us?" Lucius sounded offended,

Narcissa just laughed and turned back to James, "just let him know he's free to come up any time," she hummed. James grinned and nodded,

"Tootles, snakes!" he said in an affectionate way as he turned and started walking back up the path to Hogwarts.

Lucius and Severus look at each other both with weird expressions on their faces, their lives were being flipped upside down right now, and they didn't know how to feel about it.

-HHLL HHLL HHLL-

Saturday morning Harry woke up long before the other two in his room did. He went over to his closet and picked out his clothes, deciding today on black skinny jeans, a weird sisters t-shirt, and a dark blue hoodie. He got up and walked down the stairs towards the common room entrance, he knew he was super early, and that James probably wouldn't be there for another hour, but he figured sitting out in the empty halls would make for a good time to read his book. He got down on the floor and opened up to where he had last left off.

Harry jumped when he heard his name called, he looked up to see James walking down the hall towards him, a small smile on his face "Damn, dude. How do you look so good in such simple clothes?" James gave him a whistle.

Harry grinned at him and stood, "well brother of mine, it seems I'm just better looking than you," Harry teased, ducking under the slap that was coming his way. He chuckled and climbed into the common room with James. James found himself leading them through the common room towards the staircase, making sure to go up the left one this time.

James hesitated at opening the door, what if someone was naked in there? not just someone, but Severus Snape or Lucius Malfoy? Harry saw his hesitation and rolled his eyes, turning the nob and making his way into the room.

Severus looked up at them and nearly choked on his tea at the sight of Harry in the outfit he had chosen, Harry gave him a strange look and Severus waved it away, "Wasn't expecting to see two of you this morning, is all," he lied easily, turning to find Lucius giving him a look that said he didn't buy his crap for a second.

Harry hummed, accepting Severus' response. "sit," he barked out towards James, going over to his wardrobe. James sat obediently.

Lucius' eyes widened, it was not even a full minute in, and he noticed how different Harry was acting. He looked over at Severus and Severus just smirked and nodded his head towards the twins, telling him the show only gets better.

Harry hummed as he looked through his closet. "alright James, we've got a few options here. Sense this isn't the first day anymore we can branch out to the less fancy stuff," he said as he pulled out a few prospective items, "what style were you thinking? I've got everything from punk to hippie, shout something out and I've probably got it,"

"do you have a look that says 'I'm a bad boy but I'll be good for you?' or a 'clean cut pretty boy' look?" James asked, Harry was just about to answer when Severus opens his mouth

"James, you're an oxymoron," Harry can't help but laugh, and its soft and bubbly and it makes the room around them feel like it's filled with light. Severus finds himself closing his eyes as he hears the beautiful laugh from the beautiful boy. Severus is cut out of his musing with an elbow to the ribs. "bastard!" he hisses to Lucius, "well maybe if you stopped thinking about how much you want to snog Potter and actually paid attention, I wouldn't need to hit you," he hissed back, Severus blushed furiously.

James shot his eyes over to the two, raising an eyebrow in interest, Severus looks up and they lock eyes, and he doesn't like the twinkle he sees in James' eyes. "yes _Severus_" James emphasizes his first name in response to being called by his, "I'm afraid I am,"

"okay you two, stop flirting!" Harry chuckled, turning just in time for James to make fake gagging motions and noises,

"Don't you think he's more y-" James has to duck as Harry threw another shoe at him, "I swear you're trying to behead me," James tutted his tongue.

"I swear to god you're trying to get the entire Slytherin house to murder me," he hissed, his fists clutched at his sides. Suddenly, everything was fine, Harry's face looked calm if not a little bit empty, his masks back in place. "never mind that, let us get you dressed," his voice was flat. James frowned,

"come on Har' don't get like that!" he whined but Harry just ignored him. Lucius and Severus looked up at James, and James just huffed and pointed at his brother as if asking for help.

Lucius shrugged "Harry," he starts, and this is enough to get Harry to snap his head over at him, "did you like your book?"

Harry looked even more confused, "what-" he began, but as he realized what Lucius was saying, he just became even more confused. "you got me the fashion book?"

"well, more specifically Severus did," Lucius answered, Severus just waved at him in acknowledgement.

"why?" he asked, turning back to James and flicking his wand at his brother so the first outfit choice went onto his body.

"I noticed how much you liked clothes the first time James was up here, I figured it would pique your interest," Severus responded.

"okay, thank you, I really do love it. I just don't know why you guys are suddenly trying to befriend me as if I haven't been here for the last 5 years already." Harry deadpanned, James tutted his tongue and wagged his finger at the Slytherins. Harry smacked his shoulder before spelling on the next outfit.

"Do you want a lie, or do you want the honest answer?" it was Lucius who spoke this time.

"Honesty is the best policy," Harry hummed,

"We thought you had no personality, that you were just a shell of a person and that you had no emotions or personality whatsoever, but then I walked in on you and James getting ready for the date and it was both weird and nice to see you as something other than a husk of a human being. And then you just went back to being cold and emotionless like you had never felt anything in your life, and I realized you didn't have any friends, and that must feel pretty awful so I thought…" Severus trailed off, "I thought you could use a friend,"

Harry froze for a moment his back to the others, Severus and Lucius couldn't see his face, but they imagined it was something not good at the way panic crossed James' face. They watched as James placed his hands on Harrys shoulders, somehow communicating silently. Harry was scratching at his arm, and when it started to turn raw, he stopped and nodded at his brother after a moment of james' hands on his shoulders.

"Thank you," he said quietly. James took a step back and Harry went back to the clothes, that appeared to be the end of that conversation.

Harry waved his wand another time, and this time he stopped and smiled, James was wearing casual pants, some loafers, and a form fitting long sleeved shirt that had blue and black stripes. Harry nodded his head "that should do, I'm going to go get Narcissa's make up." Harry hummed, walking out of the room. Lucius and Severus looked at each other and then followed Harry out the door, Lucius wanted to see proof that the stairs didn't change for him.

Harry did the same thing he had a few weeks ago, he hopped the banister and landed on the girl's side of the steps, humming as he walked up without a care in the world. There was a knock and then a door opened and closed again.

Severus was curious, he had known he was gay sense he was 12, but he'd never once tried to go up the girl's stairs, but now he wanted to test his theory about why Harry could go up them so easily. Severus went down some and then jumped the bannister as well, landing solidly on a step. He was waiting for the stairs to change into a slide, but they never did. He looked up at James and Lucius, "I think I figured out why Harry can go up the stairs," he said, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

James looked over at Severus and gaped, "No way! Oh, this is going to be so good!" James crowed triumphantly, Severus gave him a glare and was just about to hop back over when he felt someone collide into him. the tumbled down the last few stairs and Severus landed on his back on the floor and somebody laying on top of him. He groaned and opened his eyes, only to find Harry sprawled out on top of him, looking a little dazed. When green eyes met obsidian, Harry flushed furiously and scrambled off of him "s-sorry!" he squeaked, holding his hand out to help Severus up. Severus took it and hoisted himself up to his feet. "it's alright, you couldn't have known I was here." He answered, dusting off his robes, thankful it was a weekend, and nobody had been in the common rooms to witness their tumble.

Harry looked back at the stairs, which stayed solid the entire time they were on them, Harry looked back at Severus and his face turned even more red, if it was possible. Harry swallowed thickly, before turning around and walking back up the boy's stairs. Severus winced and looked over at James who just gave him a crooked smile.

James walked back up the stairs and sat down on Harry's bed, Harry crawled in and sat Indian style in front of him like he had the first day. He put navy blue eyeliner on him, it made the blue of his eyes extra radiant and Harry smiled. He pulled back and admired his work with a grin "well, dear brother, dare I say you look quite dashing,"

James rolled his eyes "you're only saying that because were twins," but he also smiled and stood. Harry walked him out of the Slytherin dorms and returned Narcissa's makeup before going back to his own room. Harry practically ignored the other two in the room, but he grabbed his fashion book and snuggled into his pillows with a small smile on his face.

Severus looked over at Lucius and they both grinned before going to do their own thing.

-HHLL HHLL HHLL-

It was a few days later, at lunch, when Harry entered the great hall and squared his shoulders. He took a breath and walked over to the Slytherin table, he stood behind Severus a few feet and looked at Lucius "may I join you?" he asked, his voice a little unsteady.

Severus' head whipped around and he couldn't help but smile and scoot over some to make room for Harry, the other boy grinned. And it was a real smile, too, Harry figured he'd try the day without his masks on and see what would happen.

Narcissa leaned over from where she was sitting next to Lucius, "Hello Harry," she gave him a smile, blowing him a kiss. Harry just laughed and pretended to catch it, everyone at the Slytherin table in the vicinity stopped to turn and stare at him. Harry wanted to cower, but instead he sat up straighter and raised an eyebrow at the others, as if daring them to say anything. They didn't.

"Hello Narcissa," he replied finally, making a plate of food, when he reached out though he felt a hand around his wrist, he looked up and saw Narcissa staring at the raw spots on his hand and wrist. "what happened to you?" she asked, genuine concern in her eyes. Harry blushed and rubbed the back of his neck with his other hand.

"I uh, I've got anxiety, and I scratch unconsciously when I'm nervous, or if I'm thinking about stuff, when I'm in class- well, I kind of just do it whenever, I usually don't notice I'm doing it until it's bleeding." He answered honestly, Narcissa turned his wrist up and pointed at the several newer raw spots on his wrist, Harry shrugged "it's been a long few days," was his answer.

Narcissa searched his face and she must have seen his honesty because she let go of his wrist, he gave her a weak smile and went back to grabbing some food.

They ate and spoke comfortably together, and after that day Harry could be found with at least one of the other 3 Slytherins. He was laughing and smiling and being the smartass he was out in front of other people and it actually made him feel pretty good.

It was about a month later, the air was cold and crisp, the leaves had all fallen to the ground. Potions was doubled with the sixth year Gryffindor's, like normal, and when the Slytherin group walked in they received a wave from James before he went back to listen to whatever Sirius was going on about. Harry chuckled and went to sit at a table, Severus followed and sat next to him.

Professor Slughorn bustles into the classroom, "Today class," he begins, looking around at the students expectantly. "Today we will be brewing amortentia, which is the most powerful love potion in our world right now and has held that title for a few decades now. When you brew the potion, if it is completed correctly, you will smell the things you love, the things that make you feel most at peace," Slughorn tapped his wand to the board and suddenly the recipe was up. Harry got up and went to the supply closet to grab the ingredients, when he came back, he saw Severus shaking his head and writing something in his textbook, "what are you doing, Severus?" Harry asked curiously, trying to look over his shoulder to see what he was writing.

"I'm correcting the recipe; they tell you to do certain things with the ingredients that are either simply not right or could be done in an easier and more effective way." He answered easily, he turned away from his book and started to prepare the ingredients with Harry.

They worked together easily, as they had for the past month or so, easily stepping around each other and somehow never ending up in the other persons way. By the end of class, they had what was a perfect potion, Harry took a vial of it and put their names on it before he finally allowed himself to take a large inhale of the potions scent.

It was like several things, the smell of the earth after it rained, the cinnamon rolls that the elves only made every so often, the scent you got when you walked into your house after not being there for a while. He didn't know what to expect, but those scents made sense to him, it wasn't until more started to waft towards him that he became confused. Herbs, tea, potions ingredients, cologne. Harrys eyes snapped open, not just any cologne, the cologne of the person standing right next to him. Harry swallowed and refused to look over at Severus as he walked down to give professor Slughorn their potion, before quickly grabbing his things and heading for the door. "Harry?" Severus called confused, Harry ignored him. Severus looked up at James who was staring at him, before he jumped up and ran after his twin.

Severus was standing at their cauldron, just enjoying the scents that overtook his senses. The smell of fresh laundry, gardenia flowers, and the smell of a forest were the first things to hit him. He looked over when he saw his lab partner jerkily go up to Slughorn and then leave the room without so much as even looking back. Severus looked over at James, still confused, and James just jumped up and ran after Harry. Severus had no idea what was going on, he leaned over the cauldron again and took another breath. The smells were different this time. There was the smell of broom polish, old books, and shampoo. He paused for a second, that was Harry's shampoo. Severus groaned and sat down, laying his head on the table, why did he have to go and catch feelings?

One of the twins came back a few minutes later, and when they stopped at his table Severus looked up hopefully, but it was James. James had fire in his eyes and his jaw was set, he wasn't angry, but he if he needed to be it would easy to get there.

"Snape," James said, Severus was taken aback, they had been using first names for a while now, "what did you smell?"

Severus hadn't meant to, hadn't meant to look anywhere but the person he was speaking to, but his eyes glanced towards the still open door and he jumped when he felt James hands on his shoulders, Severus looked back to see that James was smiling just a bit. "astronomy tower," was all he said, and Severus grabbed his things and ran out of the room.

Lucius looked up from where he was sitting, only a table in front of them, "each other?" he asked James, who just gave a slight nod before going back to his own station, Lucius found himself smirking. He turned around to clean up the pairs mess for them.

Severus climbed his way to the astronomy tower, wondering how Harry had made it there so fast. He opened the door and peaked his head into the open room, finding Harry leaning against a post in the middle of the room. Severus frowned when he noticed Harry scratching at his hand, he silently walked up to him and sat down next to him, Harry jumped at his presence, stopping his motions. Harry looked up at him with wide eyes. "what… what are you doing here?" he asked, suddenly unable to maintain eye contact.

"you ran out rather fast, I wanted to see if you were okay, and also I was curious as to why," Severus replied honestly, looking Harry up and down.

Harry chuckled sadly, leaning his head against the pillar. "it was the potion, the second half of it, the scents caught me off guard and well just… made me sad because I know it's never going to happen." Harry pulled his knees up, hugging them to his chest.

"What makes you say that?" Severus asked softly, he wasn't 100% sure Harry had smelt him, but judging by James' reaction, he figured it was at least a possibility.

Harry stared off into the wall a few feet in front of him. "because he's just so…" Harry waved his hand into the open air as if searching for his words. "he's just so perfect, maybe not to everyone, but he's beautiful and kind and smart and funny, and he treats me like a person." His voice trailed to a whisper, still staring at the wall. Severus looked over at Harry and frowned, "that doesn't explain why it would never happen,"

"because I just…" Harry sighed "because I just don't feel like I deserve him, okay?" it sounded like he wanted there to be some bite behind the words, but they fell flat.

Severus reached over and took Harry's hand in his, tracing the creases on his palms. "I can assure you; you deserve far more than you think you do," Severus looked up at him and then back down at the hand he was tracing. "can I tell you what I smelt?" he asked quietly.

Harry slumped his shoulders, he didn't want to hear that Severus loved somebody else and their smell was what came up in the potion. He didn't want to have to deal with heartbreak, he thought if he ignored his feelings, they would go away eventually, but they never did. "sure," he responds softly, closing his eyes at the feel of severus' fingers running over his hand.

"I smelt broom polish, and old books," severus paused taking a breath, "and your shampoo." He hadn't wanted his voice to sound so shaky, but it had. Harry's head snapped up to look at him with wide eyes,

"no, you didn't," he whispered, and Severus just shook his head,

"I did, I'm sorry if that disappoints you," Severus mumbled, looking down, but then he was knocked down onto his back by a force hitting his chest. He looked up just in time to see Harry hovering above him before he leaned down and kissed him.

Severus felt those stereotypical romance novel fireworks go off in his chest, and he wrapped his arms around Harrys waist and kissed him back. When they finally pulled away Harry was grinning, "I've been wanting to do that for a long time," he admits,

Severus chuckles and hugs him close, "so have I,"

They lay like that for a while, Harry on top of Severus with his head on the chest underneath him, looking up at each other and pecking lips every so often. Finally, Severus sighed and sat up, bringing Harry with him. Harry whined a little, but followed into the eventual standing position, "it's time for dinner, Harry," Severus hummed, kissing his temple.

Harry smiled "we've been up here all day?" he asked, not realizing how late in the day it was, Severus chuckled and nodded, he took Harrys hand in his and laced their fingers together, tugging him gently towards the door.

When they reach the great hall and walk in, Harry lets go of Severus' hand as he sees James running up to him, Severus continued towards the Slytherin table.

James grinned, glancing back at Severus before looking at Harry, "who'd you get?" Harry asked, a smirk tugging on his lips, "Sirius?"

James made a face and shook his head "nah, ill leave him to Remus, Lily and I both smelt each other," he smiled like an idiot at that.

Harry chuckled and pat his shoulder, "I'm happy for you,"

James smirked "and how did things go with Severus? Haven't seen you around all day and the marauders map showed you two _pretty close_," James teased, winking.

Harry blushed and smacked his shoulder, but he couldn't help smiling, "it went… better than expected," harry hummed, his turn to wear the goofy smile. "did you send him up?"

James nodded "you two would have danced around each other for months, if not years, if I hadn't stepped in!" he joked, and Harry couldn't help but laugh,

"thanks, James," he said before pulling him into a firm hug. James smiled and hugged him back, when they let go Harry was about to walk towards the Slytherin table when he heard Sirius saying something about Severus, he frowned and took a step closer to hear.

"ran out of class, he did," Sirius snickered, "bet he smelt nothing, quite fitting for the bat, don't you think?" he was talking to Remus and peter. "I mean, it's probably better off for him, not loving anybody, because who would have smelt him in their cauldron? And who would ever want to be with the greasy git?"

Despite James telling Sirius to back off on the physical harassment of Severus, it didn't stop him from mocking him. James looked at his brother and saw the anger flash in his eyes, he tried to reach for his Harry to stop him but he was already walking up to the others at the table. James cursed under his breath and stood a few feet away, close enough to stop him from killing the kid if he needed, but far enough where he wouldn't get caught in the crossfire.

"Excuse me, Black?" Harry asked, putting one of his masks on, sounding perfectly polite, Sirius turned around and smiled at him "Ah, the other prongs, what can I do for you?" Harry noticed that Remus' eyes widened, and he moved over a few seats, hoping he wouldn't get in the way, Harry thought him to be smart.

"Did your parents never teach you to keep your mouth shut about other people's business?" he asked innocently, and like a wave over a crowd, the entire great hall went silent.

Sirius' eyes flashed in anger, "I can say whatever I want about whoever I want," Sirius stood, and he thought he was being intimidating towering a few inches over Harry. Harry just looked up at him calmly,

"hmm, I suppose you're right, you surely _can_ talk, in fact it's the only thing you do besides stare in a mirror all day."

Sirius was getting angrier, and this was exactly what Harry wanted, he was falling right into his plan. "listen here you little welp, just because you're my best mates' brother doesn't mean you can talk to me like that!" he hissed, poking a finger in Harry's chest. Harry refused to back down. He saw Remus once again try to move away from the two, but he seemed to be running into people who were blocking his immediate exit.

"You can give, give, give, but you can't receive, huh?" Harry mocked "How good does that make you, Black? Terrorizing someone just for the sheer sake of it? How tough does that make you that all you can do is sit around and mock those different from you simply because you don't want to understand?"

"Why you little-!" Sirius all but screeched. Harry hid a smirk, he could hear James in the background telling Sirius that wasn't a good idea, but Sirius didn't listen. He lunged at Harry, expecting to find him down on the ground under him, but Harry had side stepped and avoided the whole tackle. Sirius was furious, Harry couldn't stop himself from chuckling as the man came at him again, this time with a fist. Harry ducked, and ducked out of the way of all of the blow's Sirius tried to throw at him. The professors would have broken them up, but they were curious what was going to happen.

Harry wondered how long it would be until Sirius pulled out his wand, but he seemed too full of anger to remember he had magic. Harry hummed, Sirius was just about to throw another punch when Harry dived between the others legs, coming out on the other side, he wrapped his arm around Sirius' neck like he was going to put him in a headlock, but instead he lifted the other up and flipped him over his shoulder. Sirius landed on his back with all the air leaving his lungs, Harry put his foot on the others chest firmly, so he couldn't get up. He looked down at him and shook his head, tutting his tongue in the process. Sirius looked up at him in bewilderment, Harry smirked again.

"You're an asshole, Sirius Black, how James and Remus put up with your immature petty bullshit is beyond me. You thought you were king of the schoolyard, bullying everybody to get to the top. Well I think it's time somebody showed you your place." And with those parting words, Harry took his foot off of his chest and started to walk away, he heard Sirius try to jinx him, but a wave of his hand and the magic was absorbed by a shield. "you'll have to do better than that, Black," he called out pleasantly. He went back to the Slytherin table and sat down, at which point half the great hall erupted into cheers and applause.

Harry looked up at his friends who were all staring at him in shock and awe, he looked over at Severus and found something else on his face, and he couldn't exactly tell what until Severus grabbed him by his tie and pulled him into a fierce kiss.

When they pulled away Harry laughed softy, he looked over at the Gryffindor table. Sirius was now standing, but he looked a little bent out of shape, James was standing next to him glaring furiously, about the explode in anger at any moment. Sirius and Harry caught eyes, the Slytherin gave him a two finger salute, before kissing his boyfriend again.


End file.
